This invention deals generally with the field of devices which contain a pesticide for eradicating insects, and more specifically with the field of devices which attract flying insects to the pesticide.
It is well known that flies cause numerous problems by spreading bacteria and disease organisms. These problems are encountered in the living environments of both humans and animals. For example, the problems encountered in horse stables or barns are extreme, since the barns are concentrated sources of natural attractants for the flies. The diseases and parasites spread by flies can cause serious illness or even death in the animals. Horses represent significant investments, and much research has gone into development of systems to eradicate flies in this setting. It is necessary to protect the animals and humans from exposure to any pesticides used, so the delivery system must be designed with exposure concentrations and accessibility in mind. Because of the necessity to safely deliver any pesticide, the use of heavy spraying or saturation of objects or parts of the structure is not a good method. To this end, various traps and other types of contained delivery systems have been developed which have housings which are accessible to flies but not to the animals. These devices often are constructed with a number of components, usually an internal reservoir for the attractant and means to hold the poison surrounded by a housing with limited ingress means. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,708,908 to Levey and 4,802,303 to Floyd. The basic method behind these traps is to use an attractant which diffuses through the air to attract the flies to a pesticide contained within the trap.
It is desirable to provide a pesticide delivery system utilizing an attractant for flies which is much simpler in construction than the traps described above. The device must not be less effective and must take into account the safety precautions involving exposure of the pesticide. It should also utilize knowledge of the natural habits of flies regarding feeding, sleeping and socializing.